


Tumblr Prompts

by badritual



Series: Tumblr Prompts [26]
Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, F/M, Gen, M/M, Not Beta Read, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-05-09 02:58:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 9,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14707823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badritual/pseuds/badritual
Summary: This is just a collection of stuff that's too short to be posted individually.





	1. "once I dreamed I was in the labyrinth" max/jv

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blastellanos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blastellanos/gifts), [tobalance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobalance/gifts), [Up at 1am Anon](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Up+at+1am+Anon).



> If you want me to write you something, shoot me an [ask](http://nullrefer.com/?https://saddestboner.tumblr.com/ask).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Supernatural/paranormal AU

Max wakes up in a cold sweat, feeling as if he’s being chased. His skin crawls and he feels like thousands of tiny bugs are skittering all over him.

His eyes adjust to the dim light, and he can make out Erica’s sleeping form beside him, her soft blond hair brushing gently against his cheek as she snores peacefully. Untouched by the nightmares that now seem so distant. 

Max can hear Brook gurgling happily on the baby monitor and he flops back down against his pillows, content to listen to the sound. 

He’d woken up for a reason, a dream. ( _A nightmare,_ his brain supplies helpfully.) Max curls an arm loosely around Erica’s shoulders and closes his eyes, but sleep won’t come to him. 

Erica stirs next to him but she doesn’t wake.

Max sighs and stares up at the ceiling. He feels like he’s snagging on something. It’s like there’s a whisper at the back of his mind, urging him to remember, and he just  _can’t_. 

It feels important. 

Max jolts with a start when he realizes he doesn’t hear Brook on her baby monitor anymore. He tosses off the covers and he’s about to jump out of bed when Erica grabs onto his arm.

“Hon, what’s going on?” she asks, sleepily.

“I’m gonna go check on the baby.” He leans in and brushes a kiss against Erica’s forehead before getting out of bed and padding down the hall to Brook’s nursery.

Max yawns, stifling it behind his fist, and snaps on the light. He thinks he hears the faint tinkling of music from a music box his mom gave them as a baby gift, but… 

Max frowns. He’s pretty sure they stuck the music box in the attic with a bunch of stuff when they move into this house a few months ago.

He moves closer to Brook’s crib when he realizes the shadows have a shape. A familiar shape, one Max knows all too well.

Goosebumps pucker his flesh and a chill rolls down his spine.

“Justin.”

The figure, draped all in black, turns away from Brook’s crib and pushes back its hood. Justin flashes Max a bright, white—predatory—grin. 

“Long time, no see.” He turns back to the crib and reaches out, chucking Brook under the chin. “Just here to drop off a belated gift for the little tyke.”

“You’re not welcome here,” Max snaps.

“Tough shit.” Justin pulls his hand back and tugs Brook’s blanket up to her chin. “You can’t cut me out just ‘cause you’ve gone off the grid, you know. You’re still one of us.”

Justin moves away from the crib. Closer and closer, the dark swirling around him.

“You belong to us, Max. Never forget that.”


	2. José/James "I don't like it/ what you made me in/ and everything's in black and white/ I still see it/ from in your eyes/ I don't like it"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Sad(ish) "seeing in black and white until you meet your soulmate" soulmate AU.

José sits in front of his locker and tries to blink away the bright lights and blinding colors, to no avail. Colors he’d never been able to see before, until this moment. Colors that rush in on him like a torrential downpour, threatening to overwhelm him and drag him under.

The colors are  _loud_. They hurt his eyes.

Someone taps him on the shoulder and José lifts his head, focusing bleary eyes on the person in front of him.  

“Yes?” José asks, through gritted teeth and clenched jaw.

“This’ll help with the headache.” The team trainer passes José a paper cup of water and a couple small white pills.

“The colors?” José asks, as he pops the pills into his mouth and chugs from the paper cup. 

“Nothing I can do about that,” the trainer says. “But it might help if you talked to him. I’ve heard that can—”

“Not gonna do that,” José snaps, tossing the paper cup aside. He gets up and turns, grabbing his mitt out of his locker and shoving it onto his hand, angrily. “Don’t need to talk to anybody about this. Definitely not McCann.”

The trainer just shrugs and wanders off to administer to José’s teammates. José looks around and lets out a sigh of relief when he sees McCann’s not there.

He misses the dull monotony of seeing only in black and white. He yearns for his life  _before_ , a life without color. Now everything is so bright and garish, and it makes his eyes hurt and his head throb and apparently it’s all James McCann’s fault.

José hurries out to the dugout before anyone else can pull him aside and tell him he should be happy he’s finally found his soulmate.

Thing is, José’s  _not_ happy. He wishes desperately that his soulmate was anyone else but McCann.


	3. Nick; "sweet dreams 'til sunbeams find you"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Nicholas Castellanos + single fatherhood

Nick stands in the doorway and watches Liam sleeping, curled around a pillow, his thumb stuck in his mouth. Vanessa had tried so hard to get Liam out of the habit of sucking on his thumb when he was smaller, but she could never quite get through to him. When he got older, it became a comfort thing when he was uncomfortable or scared or anxious. Coaxing didn’t work, cajoling didn’t either, and neither did bribing. And neither he nor Vanessa wanted to punish Liam for it, so they eventually gave up. He ended up stopping on his own, and that was that. 

But now Liam’s about to start the first grade, and Nick had thought he’d grown out of it, but here he is sucking on his thumb.

He wonders what Liam’s anxious about. He starts his first day of school tomorrow. He’ll be standing up in Nick’s wedding to Jess in a couple weeks. It’s a lot for a little boy to handle, Nick knows. He went through his parents’ own divorce and both of their remarriages, but he was older than Liam when that all went down. Nick was in high school when they split up and he was already in pro-ball when they each remarried.

Nick comes into Liam’s room and pulls over an armchair, settling next to Liam’s bedside. He rests a hand in Liam’s sandy blond hair, sifting through it like it’s spun gold. 

Nick’s never been much of a singer, but it’s not like Liam’s awake to hear him, so.

“ _Sweet dreams ‘til sunbeams find you, sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you. But in your dreams, whatever they be, dream a little dream of me._ ”


	4. James/Josefina, Josefina/Eric; "her boyfriend/ he don't know / anything about her"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Sex-/genderswap + always a member of the opposite sex AU

Josefina creeps down the hall, her high-heeled sandals dangling from her wrist by the straps. Eric’s hand is resting low on her hip, squeezing gently but firmly, his fingers kneading. His body is strong and solid behind her as they come to a stop in front of the hotel room she’s still sharing with James. 

She pops open her clutch and pulls out the room key, pausing for a moment to revel in the attention Eric’s paying to a strip of bare skin on the side of her neck with his lips and teeth, before she unlocks the door and leads him inside. 

Josefina snaps on the light and drops her shoes on the floor. Eric’s on her before the hotel room door is even closed, sweeping her into his arms. Josefina laughs softly, careful not to be too loud, as she wraps her legs around his waist and he carries her to the empty bed.

She hazards a glance over at the blanket-covered lump in the bed across from hers. As far as she can tell, James is asleep. 

“ _We gotta be quiet,_ ” Josefina hisses at Eric as he rolls on top of her and kisses around her mouth, over both her cheeks and her chin. “ _Don’t wanna wake him up._ ”

“ _Why not?_ ” Eric’s tone is teasing as he slides a hand down Josefina’s waist, to grip her hip. “ _Could give him a show._ ”

“ _He had a long night. Caught twelve innings. He needs his sleep_ ,” she says, hiding a bubbly, slightly-drunken laugh behind her hand. 

“ _You’re no fun_.” Eric reaches down and grasps the hem of Josefina’s skirt, pulling it up to expose the pretty lavender lace of her panties. He hooks his thumbs in the waistband and starts tugging them down her hips. 

Josefina remembers that night—the one when she dropped in on James uninvited, wearing only a red negligee and matching lace panties under a tan trench coat—and they had sex in his office. The memory gets Josefina more heated than Eric’s big hands and his wicked smirk. 

She smiles up at him and rubs a hand over his chest as he pulls her panties off and tosses them aside. 

Josefina sees James stirring in his bed, and she’s tempted to remind Eric to be quiet, but she bites her tongue as he parts her legs and hooks them over his hips. She looks over at James and catches his eye for a moment—realizing, with rapidly growing horror, that he hadn’t been asleep after all—before he kicks off his covers and quietly slides out of bed. He grabs his robe off the end of his bed and slips out of the room without a word, the door closing quietly behind him.

She wants to go after him, but Eric distracts her with a kiss and she lets the protest—and the reproachful look in James’s eyes—flutter away like leaves on a stiff breeze. 


	5. POV — something that’s already happened, retold from another character’s perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Infidelity + breakup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of set in [this universe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11657907).

Jess smiles warmly at James when he shuts the door to their hotel room and meanders over to her. 

“What were y’all talkin’ about?” she asks, as she leans in and rubs James on the chest. 

The warmth and love in her dark eyes nearly undoes him and he can practically see himself unspooling like thread. He almost loses his resolve.

“Whaddaya mean?” James plays dumb, going over to the minibar and pulling out a bottled water, trying to buy himself some more time.

All he wants is more  _time_.

“You and José,” Jess says. She shuffles over and climbs back into bed.

James sips his water and swirls it around in his mouth. He feels as cold as the water, like someone’s just dumped a bucket of it over his head. 

“Nothin’ important,” James mutters, putting the bottle down. He turns and looks at Jess over his shoulder. She’s burrowed under the covers, her arms wrapped around a pillow.

He has to do this now. He can’t let this continue. 

“Hon, we need to talk,” James says, moving over to stand by the end of the bed.

Jess opens her eyes and glances up at him, her brow furrowing a little. “Somethin’ the matter?”

James sits on the end of the bed and rests a hand on her ankle. He rubs his thumb over her ankle bone in slow circles. He can’t bring himself to look her in the eye. 

“Hon… Jess, I…” James trails off, losing his bravery and resolve. 

“What is it, Jimmy?” Jess touches the back of his hand.

James thinks about José. 

_You’re not good for me. You’re never gonna be good for me._

James forces himself to lift his head and meet Jess’s concerned brown eyes. “I’ve been unfaithful,” he says, his voice shaking slightly. “I’ve strayed.”

Jess recoils from him like he hit her. “You’ve  _what_?”

“I'm—I had an affair,” James says, quietly. “I cheated.”

He traces his fingers over the stitching on the bedspread.

_Sometimes, I wish things could’ve been different.  
_

James frowns at the bedspread. 

“Are you—are you really tellin’ me you’ve been with another woman?” Jess hisses out under her breath. Jess clutches at the comforter, her knuckles while as bone. She sounds like James slugged her in the chest, breathless, gasping for air.

James’s chest tightens and he wants to reach up to rub away the uncomfortable sensation, but he doesn’t. He won’t let himself. He needs—deserves—the discomfort right now.

“Yes,” James says, forcing himself to meet her eyes again. “It’s been goin’ on for a while now. A few months.”

Jess’s brows knit over her eyes as she frowns. “A few months? Is that what you were doin’ when I wasn’t comin’ with you on the road? You were  _lying_  with someone else?”

James gives her a minute nod. He tries to swallow past a lump in his throat. “Yeah,” he says. He wants to reach out to her, to touch her, placate her like he usually does. “I’m sorry, Jess. I never wanted this to happen. I never meant for… I didn’t…”

Jess tosses the covers away and gets out of bed. She rubs her hands over her face and James realizes she’s crying, her shoulders shaking ever so slightly, like she’s a trembling leaf caught outside in a thunder storm.

James gets up too. 

“Jess, I—”

“I can’t look at you,” Jess spits out at him, jerking her arm away when James reaches out to touch her. She brushes his hand aside. “I thought we were both in it for the long haul, James. I thought we were on the same page.”

“I—I  _am_. I wanna fix things, I wanna get things right between us,” James says, but he betrays himself, his voice faltering, sounding uncertain.

Jess hears it too, and her eyes narrow into hard, tiny, glittering jewels. “No you don’t,” she snaps at him. “You want things how they were. With me, and your  _slut_ on the side.”

“We can go to marriage counseling,” James says, reaching out again and snagging her by the wrist. “We can talk to someone. Maybe—”

Jess pulls her arm away from him and gives him a gentle shove in the chest. “Don’t do that,” she says, backing away from him. She turns her back on him and starts digging in one of the dresser drawers. She quickly shucks her pajamas and pulls out a shirt and some jeans. “I’m goin’ out.”

“Jess, where are you gonna go?” James asks.

Jess looks at him over her shoulder. “Wherever you ain’t,” she says, narrowing her eyes at him as if she’s really seeing him for the first time. “I’m gonna spend the night with Mike and Kelsey. I need time to think. On my own, without you cloudin’ up my judgment.”

James watches her pull on her shoes and grab her purse and phone off the top of the dresser. She pulls her long brown hair back into a hasty ponytail and then she slings the strap of her bag over her shoulder. 

When Jess nears him, James puts a hand out but Jess shies away from him and edges around him for the door.

Jess throws the door open and pauses, turning to look at James. Her eyes are unreadable and her expression is carefully blank.

“Was that what you and José were chattin’ about?” Jess asks. “Did he know?”

“No.  _No_.” James shakes his head. “No one knows.”

Jess sighs and looks away. “All right. Well.” She slips out the door. 

James waits for her to finish her sentence but the door just shuts behind her and he stands there in the middle of the empty room and stares at it. Hoping it’ll swing back open and Jess—or José—will be waiting on the other side for him. 


	6. 1.) Give me a pairing James/Jose 2.) Give me an AU setting CIRCUS!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Circus AU!!!

José stands in the center of the ring, awash in lights, his thudding heartbeat drowned out by the cheers and applause. This is what he’s worked for his whole career: the admiration and adoration of the crowds. When he turns his head, he catches the eye of a man in the crowd. He’s never seen him here before but he stands out because he’s not as nicely dressed as the others, in his dirty coveralls, his brown hair long on top and a little unkempt. José follows him with his eyes, growing more and more curious and curious, as he gets out of his seat and winds his way through the crowd. 


	7. you know who: the pleasant misuse of ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Weak attempt at "light bondage"

José tugs his wrists against the silk binding him to the bedpost and sighs. That particular tie cost nearly a hundred and fifty dollars and if they ruin it because James got delusions of grandeur, well… Let’s just say José is  _not_  going to be happy. 

Speaking of James…he’s looming over José, running another of his expensive silk ties through his fingers. He dangles it over José’s chest and the silk slips against his overheated skin.

“Over four hundred bucks worth of ties,” José mutters unhappily, as James leans down and loops it loosely around his neck, knotting it under his chin. 

“You can always buy new ties,” James says.

“But I  _liked_  those,” José protests.

“They died for a noble cause.” James grins, sharp at the corners, something like amusement dancing in his eyes.

José sighs and tugs against the ties knotted around his wrists. “Gonna make you buy me new ones.”

James pats José on the chest, almost affectionately. “Now, now. Don’t go writin’ checks your ass can’t cash.” 


	8. James/Norris "as lines, so loves oblique may well / themselves in every angle greet; / but ours so truly parallel, / though infinite, can never meet"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Bible study!!!!

Daniel watches his hands—strong, sturdy, thick with calluses—as they flip the tissue-thin pages of his Bible. The first things he ever notices about anybody are their hands; some people are drawn to eyes and some to smiles, but not Daniel. He studies their hands—the fingers, the palms, the knuckles—and tries to guess what kind of work they’ve done. Those with soft, smooth hands he usually disregards because they’ve probably never worked a day in their life. Hands thick with calluses and ridged with scars intrigue him. 

Like James’s hands. There’s a thick patch of rough, yellowed skin on his palm from years of swinging baseball bats. His knuckles are mottled with faded scars; Daniel doesn’t know where those are from, and he hasn’t found it in him to ask. And on the fourth finger on his left hand is the faint indentation of a ring.

Daniel finally makes up his mind that he’ll ask James for a cup of coffee at the local Starbucks. Or maybe he can lure him in with the suggestion of an impromptu, one-on-one Bible study. Perhaps he could invite James over to his apartment and offer to play on his guitar for him.

On the day Daniel’s chosen to ask James over to his apartment—their weekly Bible study, as it turns out—James shows up with a pretty brunette on his arm. And a gold ring resting on his finger. 

Daniel looks away from James’s strong hands, clasped so warmly around his wife’s. 

It wouldn’t have worked out anyway, so it’s probably for the best that he didn’t ask.


	9. josé/james "i see the god among me, fall among me"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Medieval/high fantasy AU + character death

James is the first to fall in the field of battle. José watches as rain patters against his dinged armor, knowing he ought to  _do something_ but finding himself unable to move a single muscle. 

He thinks he should pull him off to the side, maybe, but that would only leave him exposed to attack. But he can’t leave James lying like this, broken and bloodied, without a proper burial.

José inches closer to where James’s body rests, his arms and legs lying at odd angles like he’s a marionette without strings.

José crouches beside his body and brushes his fingertips over James’s eyes, dragging the lids down over milky blue eyes. 

He’d been a friend, once. Often an adversary. And now he was nothing more than an empty husk. 

José’s throat tightens and his eyes sting. He wipes them off on the hem of the scratchy gray tunic that peaks out from under his chest plate. 

He lifts his head and surveys the mess in front of him: broken bodies and weapons littering the muddy ground, grass and mud churned up under hoof and foot. 

“ _Hell on earth_ ,” José mutters to himself, stealing a quick glance down at James’s body. 

The enemy had retreated almost as soon as the fighting began, but José can see them in the distance, their armored bodies gleaming like polished silver plate.  

José touches James’s shoulder—he chokes back a swell of feeling, tucking it away safely—before getting back to his feet and tugging on the reins of his mount. After he swings himself onto the horse’s back, José digs his heels in and he sets off after his enemies, a lust for vengeance burning in his veins. 


	10. José; "Sad little boy, I know you get confused/ But everyone goes through these trials of truth and self-abuse" (discarded)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Religious imagery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was doing this as a prompt fill but decided I wanted to change my idea.

José bows his head and lets his eyes close, as he clasps his hands under his chin as if in prayer. 

He waits, holding the breath in his lungs until they feel full to bursting. 

“What troubles you, son?” asks the priest.

José opens his mouth to respond, but he can’t get anything out. He yearns so badly for absolution, he can taste it. It burns at the back of his throat like bile, and he feels as if he’s going to choke on it if the priest doesn’t bestow a little grace on him soon.

“I... I’ve...” José falters, as he usually does.

He lifts his head and gazes at the door. A sliver of light peeks in at the bottom of the door. 

The priest coughs lightly, waiting patiently for José to continue.

“I’m a sinner,” José chokes out, clenching his hands and digging his nails into his palms. 


	11. James/Jess "I'm trying not to hear your lies or see your make believe / the words you speak are empty and your story's full of holes/ god I know you're burning up from all the lies you told"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Spy AU. Kind of.

Jess is sitting at the kitchen table when he gets home, her phone resting in front of her on the kitchen table. James’s eyes fall on the glossy screen and Jess pulls it away, shielding James’s eyes from it with her body as she hunches protectively over the screen.

“It’s late,” Jess mutters, putting her phone—the screen now dark—back on the table. She looks up at him, her mouth tightening, though her eyes betray no emotions, no hints to what she might be thinking. 

“Sorry, hon. You got my text, didn’t you?” James asks, shrugging off his jacket and slinging it over the back of one of the chairs tucked into the kitchen table. 

Jess taps her fingernails on the table. “Yes, James. That’s not the point. Where’re you goin’ off to in the middle of the night?”

James frowns, knowing he can’t very well tell her where he’s been. He’d probably be better off letting Jess think he’s been with another woman than what he’s actually been off doing in the dark of night.

“It’s not what it looks like,” he says, putting his hands out to her.

Jess reels away. “Oh? What’s it look like on your end? ‘Cause it sure as hell looks like you’re runnin’ around on me,” she snaps. 

James glances down at the backs of his hands, at the dirt caked under his nails and in the crevices of his skin. His knuckles are mottled white, and there’s a fresh cut on the back of his hand that’s raw and red. 

“I’m sorry, hon. I didn’t mean for anything to happen,” James lies, hoping it sounds believable enough. 

“Who is she?” Jess asks, sounding brittle.

“A gal from church,” he says. 

“Who? Arlene. I bet it’s Arlene,” she says, her eyes narrowing. “Did ya do it in our marriage bed? Or did ya at least have the decency to take her to a motel?”

“We—we went to a motel,” James says. “I couldn’t do that to you—”

“But you could lie with her,” Jess sneers.

The pure, unadulterated hatred in Jess’s eyes hits him in the chest like a physical blow, but he has no other choice. He hates lying to her, wishes he didn’t have to but Jess can’t ever find out what James has really been doing.

Jess can’t ever find out that James is a spy. 


	12. justin upton/cam maybin "and there was silence in the summer night"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Mentions of family. Mostly gen.

Justin finds Cam sitting in the dugout after the game, watching the groundscrew set up for the post-game fireworks show. Justin wonders if Cam’s wife and kids made the trip in from Florida. He actually hasn’t seen Courtney or the kids in a while, and he knows he should probably ask after them but, well… He doesn’t want to, so he doesn’t. 

“What’re you doing out here?” Justin asks, sitting next to Cam and kicking up his feet.

“Waiting for the fireworks, man.” Cam folds his hands behind his head and laces his fingers together.

“Ain’t like you’ve never seen fireworks before,” Justin says.

“They’re kinda cool. Makes everything feel…” Cam twirls a finger in the air near his ear, like he’s cycling through the mental Rolodex for the right words. “Insignificant. But not in a bad way.”

Justin nods. He sort of gets it. “Yeah,” he agrees, turning and looking back out toward the diamond. 

He thinks about Ashley and the baby, who are staying in Arizona until the crux of the summer. He misses them desperately, his heart aching with it. Justin wants to ask them to move up to Detroit, but it’d be too much of a hassle. 

Justin doesn’t mind it in Detroit but sometimes he wonders… 

“What about you, man?” Cam asks. “You’re awful quiet.”

“Just thinking,” Justin says.

“About?”

He shrugs. “Missing Ash and Syd extra hard today, I guess,” he says. 

Cam nods. He reaches out and pats Justin on the chest. “They coming up for a visit?”

“Probably,” Justin says, but it’s not the same. 

Because a visit is temporary. Because a visit means he’ll have to eventually say goodbye. 

“It’ll get easier.” Cam pats him on the chest again before he pulls his hand back.

Lights streak across the sky in bolts of red, white, and blue, before exploding in a shower of color. Justin sits back, shoulder-to-shoulder with Cam and they watch the fireworks spread out across the sky like slashes of paint on an artist’s canvas. 

Justin misses his wife and daughter something fierce, but he supposes it’s not so bad with his best friend by his side. 


	13. got presents to send you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Justin beams proudly. Yeah, he did good._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reposting this one here because it's short.
> 
> Originally posted [here](http://nullrefer.com/?https://saddestboner.tumblr.com/post/165855675281/21-justin-verlander-and-alex-avila) in response to [this meme](http://nullrefer.com/?https://saddestboner.tumblr.com/post/165850902981/send-me-a-ship-and-one-of-these-and-ill-write-a).

Justin gives Alex the new watch the next day in the clubhouse. It’s a Rolex, the most expensive one Justin could find just because that’s how he rolls. 

Alex grins when Justin hands the box to him and he rips the paper off. 

“Aw man, you shouldn’t have,” Alex says, taking the watch out.

Justin beams like a guy who just hit the jackpot as far as gifts go. Emily was never impressed with the stuff he got her, probably because he was always buying her shit and Tiffany blue probably lost its luster, but Alex looks thrilled. 

“Man, if I’d known a no hitter was worth a watch like this, I would’ve got you to throw one a little sooner.” Alex slips the watch around his thick tree branch of a wrist and shows his new present off to Miguel who’s a few lockers down.

Justin beams proudly. Yeah, he did good.

 


	14. alex avila/jv "you/ still a whisper on my lips/ a feeling in my fingertips/ that's pulling at my skin"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Brief mention of Verlander's (non-famous) ex and their breakup.

Alex leans in the doorway and gazes at Justin’s huddled form, curled around a pillow in bed. 

“You okay?” he asks, though he knows the answer.

Justin lifts his head and blinks bleary, red-rimmed eyes at him. “Whaddaya think, genius?” Justin snaps, frowning.

Alex frowns too, mirroring Justin’s expression. He’s not used to Justin without the permanent smirk etched onto his face.

“So, she finally left,” he says, not exactly a question because it was just a matter of time before Emily finally walked out on him for good.

“She met someone else,” Justin snaps, punching at his pillow unhappily. Maybe imagining it’s Emily’s new boyfriend. “Didn’t wanna wait around for me to put a ring on it.”

Alex crosses his arms over his chest. “You’ll be okay. You always land on your feet,” he says from the doorway.

Justin raises an eyebrow at him. “Easy for  _you_  to say. Me and her were together since high school.”

“And I’ve been with Kristina since high school too. What’s your point?” Alex asks. 

“People don’t  _leave_  me,” Justin whines. He sounds like a pouty child. “This kinda shit  _doesn’t happen_ to me.”

“Until it does,” Alex quips. He looks around before striding over to Justin’s dresser and tugging open a drawer, rooting around until he finds fresh boxers and a shirt, which he tosses onto the bed. “We’re going out.”

“What? Why?” Justin asks. 

“Because you’re pathetic,” Alex says. “Throw some clothes on. I’m taking you out for drinks. Maybe you’ll find someone to take your mind off Emily.”

He just waves Alex off, dismissively, and he turns his back so Justin can dress with some semblance of peace. When he’s done, the two of them get into Alex’s truck and he drives them to a local bar downtown.

Alex usually doesn’t go out on the town to drink with Kristina staying with him in Detroit, but this is a special occasion.

It’s Justin’s presence that gets them whisked off to the back of the bar, not Alex’s. And it’s Justin’s lap that’s soon full of a curvy blonde in a matter of minutes. Justin seems no worse for the wear, his hands resting on the blonde’s hips and his nose buried in her wavy blond hair.

“Feeling better?” Alex asks over a gin and tonic.

“Never better,” Justin says, but it has a little bite to it. He rubs his nose against the line of the girl’s neck. 

Justin will get back on his feet, sooner or later. Nothing ever sticks to Justin like it does Alex, and he suspects the breakup with Emily will be no different. He knows Justin loved her, but they’d been together for an awful long time with no promise of a ring or a real future together. She had to have known he wasn’t ready to settle down. 

The only thing that gives Alex even the slightest bit of pause is when—several drinks into the evening—Justin’s eyes get a little glassy and faraway when a particularly maudlin love song starts blasting from the speakers mounted on the walls. 

Alex just leans over and clasps a hand over Justin’s shoulder, squeezing. And Justin looks at him with gratefulness. Alex can count on one hand the number of times Justin’s shown appreciation when it doesn’t have anything to do with the baseball diamond.

He squirrels this moment away, like he does almost everything else involving Justin, and they continue to drink the night away together.


	15. José; "Sad little boy, I know you get confused/ But everyone goes through these trials of truth and self-abuse" v. 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Manipulative ex-BF.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorta fits into [this universe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11657907) but will probably be Jossed by me later.

José sits on the old wooden bench and stares at his reflection in the water. Shimmering, rippling, abstract like shards of broken glass. He wants to put his fist through the reflection, send the pieces of himself scattering. 

There’d been a time when his reflection didn’t make him want to lash out. When he could look himself in the mirror and feel good about everything he saw staring back out at him. 

Now, it’s all gone. Now, he has no idea who he is. He’d spent so long defining himself by baseball—by the runs he saved with his glove, by the extra bases he took, by the hits he laced into the outfield—but now even that’s gone.

José hears him approaching, his footsteps scuffing on the concrete before he collapses next to José on the bench.

Neither of them say anything. José stares out at the water without seeing. 

Then: 

“José…”

And a hand lands on José’s arm. A thumb rubs gently, raising gooseflesh. José is tempted to jerk his arm away but he doesn’t.

“I’m happy you agreed to meet up with me,” he says, leaving his hand on José’s arm. 

His palm is warm and heavy, tight around his wrist like a shackle. 

“What you want from me?” José asks, still not looking at him. 

“I wanted to see how you’re doing.” David squeezes José’s wrist gently.

“I’m fine,” José lies. 

“Oh?” David asks.

“Yes.” José finally does twist his arm away from David’s hand. 

David sighs. “Two months and nothing. No texts, no calls, but now you want to meet and that’s the best you can do?” he asks, his tone sharp, full of reproach.

José turns his head and glances at David, letting his eyes skate over his features without really  _seeing_ him.

“Felt like I owed it to myself,” José says.

“What about what you owe  _me_?” David snaps. “You just left me hanging and—”

José waves David silent. “Didn’t come here for excuses and accusations. I’m going.” 

José gets up but David does too. His fingers close around José’s wrist again and there’s a flash of memory: David getting angry, grabbing José’s arm to keep him from walking away from an argument he’d been determined to have.

He jerks his arm away.

“I’m going,” José repeats.

“Is it  _him_? Is he waiting for you like a little lapdog?” David sneers, dropping his tone to something almost seductive and solicitous.

“James?” José asks. He flicks his eyes over David’s head, to the big black pickup truck shuddering at the curb, pumping exhaust. 

David turns and looks, too. “Should’ve figured.”

“It’s not like that,” José says, though he knows he doesn’t owe David anything, least of all an explanation or excuse about his friendship with James. 

“It always is with you,” David snaps, trying to wound.

The words land, but the blow is softened by the fact nothing David says or does can hurt him anymore. 

“ _Adíos_ , David,” José says softly. He maneuvers around David and heads for James’s truck, half-expecting to hear David’s footsteps on the concrete as he hurries after him.

But David doesn’t come after him. A few months ago, José would turn back to him. A few months ago, it would hurt that David just let him go. 

It doesn’t hurt anymore. 

José opens the door and hops into the passenger seat. James glances over at him when he settles in and pulls the seatbelt across his chest.

“Everything good?” James asks, as he throws the truck into drive.

“Yeah. Is good,” José says, offering James a smile.

James nods, mirroring the smile back. He pulls away from the curb and they head off for home. 


	16. leonys/nick; liam and kristen have a playdate.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Friendship. Mention of family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOO THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP.

Nick closes the sliding door and watches as Liam chases Kristen around the yard, a bottle of beer in hand. He remembers when that was him, Jackie, and Ryan racing around the backyard nailing each other in the face with water balloons until Mom made them stop because they’d get the house all wet and muddy.

He’d thought him and Vanessa would have given Liam a little brother or sister by now, but Vanessa had left him and it’s far too soon to broach the subject of kids with Jessica. 

Jessica likes her job and travel, and he doesn’t wanna anchor her down like he did with Vanessa. Being a stay-at-home mom and Nick’s personal cheerleader at twenty-one had gotten to be too much for her and she left. He doesn’t blame her; he never did. 

“Maybe they gonna get married when they grow up,” Leonys jokes, poking Nick in the side with his elbow. 

Nick laughs a little but he doesn’t wanna think about his little Liam all grown up. He feels like he’s missing too much of Liam’s childhood as it is. 

“You ain’t sick of me already?” Nick asks, laughing. He clinks his bottle against Leonys’s. 

“No yet,” Leonys says.

“Thanks for believing in me, bro,” Nick says, smiling a little. He glances back out the sliding glass door. Liam and Kristen are pulling up handfuls of grass and tossing it on each other. 

Leonys laughs again, squeezes Nick’s shoulder. He lifts his beer bottle to his lips. “I got faith, man.” He sips his beer.

Nick turns his attention back to the kids and the two of them stand like that by the door, watching as Liam and Kristen race around the backyard some more as the sun dips down below the horizon and twinkling stars sweep across a dusky indigo night sky.


	17. james/jess; jess's parents take the twins for the weekend, james surprises jess with a date night.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Non famous family members as characters.

Jess gets back from the yoga studio with her mat rolled up and tucked under her arm, in need of a long relaxing shower and maybe a glass of wine. She doesn’t drink much wine at all, but she’s had a long day packed to the brim: she’d kicked off the morning with some volunteer yardwork at a local battered women’s shelter with some of the other Tigers wives, then they delivered lunch to the homeless, and she topped it all off with some hot yoga. 

James had one of his vanishingly rare offdays so he spent the afternoon with the twins. 

Jess lets herself into the house and dumps her yoga mat and tote by the front door. She can hear the TV blaring in the den, and the twins chattering to each other in their unintelligible baby talk. 

Jess pops into the den, expecting to see James with them but—

“Mama? What’re you doin’ here?” Jess feels her face busting out into a wide grin as she darts into the den and grabs her mama up in a big hug.

“Thought I’d surprise y’all,” Mama says, squeezing her back. 

“Where’s Jimmy?” Jess lets go of Mama to scoop the twins out of their play-pen and bring them over to the sofa.

“I think he... Actually, I’m not real sure,” Mama says. She joins Jess on the sofa and takes one of the babies into her arms. He gurgles happily up at her and curls his fat little fingers in her hair.

Jess is about to call out for him when she hears James’s footsteps thumping heavily as he descends the stairs. Hefting Kane against her shoulder, Jess gets up to greet him.

James stops in the doorway, dressed to the nines in a nice button-down shirt and gray slacks. He has a royal blue cocktail gown of Jess’s slung over his shoulder. 

“What’re you all dressed up for?” Jess asks, greeting him with a kiss on his stubbled jaw.

James sets the dress over her shoulder. “I got plans for us, hon,” he says, kissing her back as he rubs a hand over Kane’s back. “Go on, hop in the shower and then get dressed up.”

Jess pulls back and shoots James a look as she rocks Kane in her arms a little bit. “Were you and my mama in on this together?” she asks.

“He texted me last night,” Mama says from the couch. 

“Jimmy, what am I gonna do with you?” Jess smiles up at him and rubs her hand over his chest. 

“I think we’ll figure somethin’ out,” James says, grinning at her. 

After Jess hands Kane off to her mama, she hurries upstairs to shower and change.

***

They end up going to a performance at the Detroit Opera House, and afterwards James takes Jess to a trendy restaurant for dinner. Jess is worried, at first, they they’re going to be over-dressed but once they get inside, she realizes her concerns were unfounded. 

They enjoy decadent delicacies that cost an exorbitant amount of money, and James leaves an exorbitant tip when they’re done. 

They walk around the RiverWalk a little bit as dusk begins to drop its shroud over them, hand in hand. 

When Jess shivers a little as a light chill sweeps in from the water, James slips off his coat and drapes it over her shoulders. It reminds her a bit of when they first started dating in college, and James was all chivalrous, letting her wear his too-big Razorbacks letterman jacket as they wandered around the Arkansas State Fair.

“This was an unexpected surprise, Jimmy,” she says, as she rubs the back of his hand gently. “I had a lovely time.”

“I’m glad.” James squeezes her hand and presses a kiss to her temple. 

“Somehow, I find myself more and more in love with you every passing day,” Jess says, sighing blissfully. She turns her head and brushes her lips against the corner of his mouth as they come to a stop.

When they break the kiss, Jess looks out over the water. It’s too dark to really see anything, but she can make out the faint twinkling of lights and the vague hint of shapes in the nighttime. A cool breeze caresses her cheek and tangles in her hair.

When she turns a little to the right she can see the Renaissance Center looming not too far away.

“You ready to head back?” James asks, draping an arm around her shoulders.

“Not yet,” Jess says. “I kinda like it out here.”

James tightens his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. The two of them stay like that for a little while longer, looking out over the Detroit River like a king and queen surveying their kingdom.


	18. james/josé; during the offseason, james takes josé to meet his parents (if you're feeling froggy, josé can ask james's dad for james's hand in marriage >_>)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Additional Notes:** Disgusting engagement fluff.

José’s never really known what to expect when it comes to James’s parents. It’s no secret they don’t exactly  _approve_ of James and José’s relationship. 

Well, neither of them have ever said as much to José but he knows they’d vastly prefer if James had stayed with Jess. Or found some rebound girl after they split up, rather than taken up with José.

It’s been almost a year though, and José needs to ask James’s parents a very important question. 

James is out with his brother, riding ATVs up and down the Pismo Beach sand dunes. José had intended to go with them but he took ill and he’s spent the better part of the day puking in the bathroom. He’s sure that’s really endeared him to James’s mom as a houseguest.

It’s also given him time to craft an appeal to James’s parents. 

José gets the little velvet box out of a pocket on his luggage and, coupled with the note he wrote for James’s mom and dad, he finds them out in the backyard listening to soft rock and drinking soda.

“Mr. and Mrs. McCann,” José says, giving them each a nervous wave before he shoves his hands back in his pockets. “I... I need your help.”

James’s mom looks up at José curiously. His dad glances over, his bushy white eyebrows knitting in what José thinks is suspicion. 

“What is it?” James’s mom asks.

“I got an important question I gotta ask you,” he says, pulling the piece of paper out of his pocket.

James’s mom nods at him to go on, and he glances down at the paper before he starts reading.

“I love James very much and I am hoping for your permission to ask him to marry me,” José says, shoving the paper back in his pocket. He pulls the box out and flips it open to show James’s mom the simple silver band he got for James.

James’s mom looks at it for a few long seconds before flicking her eyes over to his dad. They share a silent conversation, communicating with just their eyes and slight nods, before she looks back up at José.

“Isn’t it a little soon?” she asks.

“We only been going out for a year but we know each other much longer than that,” José protests, feeling his hopes and dreams start to flag, like he’s lost the wind out of his sails.

If they tell him no, they won’t give José their blessing, what will he do? Can he defy James’s parents? Will James even  _want_ to marry him?

“Nice ring,” James’s dad says. James’s mom gives him a sharp look that he studiously avoids acknowledging.

“You’re really sure about this,” his mom says. 

“ _Si_ , yes ma’am,” José says, nodding, very serious. 

James’s mom nods slowly. “You have my blessing.”

“Her opinion’s the only one that holds any weight around here, so you got mine too,” James’s dad says.

José’s chest swells and his eyes prickle with unshed tears he refuses to let fall. Instead, he embraces James’s mom in a brief hug before going over and offering his hand to James’s dad. He surprises José by bypassing his outstretched hand to give him a hug and clap him on the back before letting him go.

“I’ll be very good to James,” José promises them both. He clasps his hands under his chin, gratefully, before wiping at his eyes. 

James and his brother clomp out onto the deck, shaking sand out of their clothes. 

“What’s goin’ on, guys?” James slips his arm around José’s shoulders and gives him a squeeze while his brother goes to the cooler and pulls out a couple sodas and passes them over.

“I think José’s got something he wants to talk about,” James’s mom says. She gets up and takes James’s brother by the arm, leading him into the house. James’s dad follows, clapping José on the shoulder.

James looks after them, his brow furrowing in confusion. 

“What’s that all about?” he asks, looking over at José.

José drops slowly to one knee in front of James and pulls out the crumpled piece of paper. He looks down at it, trying to decipher his handwriting to no avail. He shoves the paper back into his pocket and pulls out the box, lifting his eyes to meet James’s.

“James—”

“You’re not really—”

“I am,” José cuts him off, popping the box open. 

James stares down at him, a mess of complicated emotions warring behind his eyes before he crouches down in front of José and slides a hand over his cheek. 

“Yes, I—”

“Shut up and let me do this right,” José huffs, reaching into the box and pulling out the ring. “James, I love you, you make me so happy and I wanna be with you until I’m all old and gross. Will you marry me?”

James laughs and pulls his hand away. “How can I say no to that?” He leans in and kisses José softly, slipping the ring out of his hand. 

When they separate and José reaches out to slip the ring onto his finger, James reaches into his own pocket and pulls out a velvet pouch. He reaches in and pulls out a ring of his own. 

“So... I was gonna surprise you but you kinda ruined my plans.” James slides the ring onto José’s finger and clasps his hand in his. “Marry me.”

“Ask me nice.” José grins at him.

James rolls his eyes and squeezes on his hand before kissing him on the cheek. “I’ll take that as a yes.”


	19. POV — something that’s already happened, retold from another character’s perspective —

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikie's POV from the plane scene in IKMFOTG ( _“You know how games of telephone can be,” Mikie says, with an awkward laugh. “Crystal heard from Ashley Boyd who heard from Kelsey Fulmer that… Ah, that Jess up and left.”_ )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set in this ['verse](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11657907).

Mikie wanders into the kitchenette of his and Crystal’s spring training rental to find her and Ashley Boyd drinking wine coolers and whispering amongst themselves even though they had been—up to the point Mikie walked in—the only people within hearing distance.

Mikie lets himself into the fridge for a beer, bumping shoulders with Crystal and nuzzling against her cheek with the tip of his nose.

Ashley reaches out and grabs onto Crystal’s hand. “I’m not as close with her, not like Kelsey is,” she says, continuing the conversation he’d stepped right in the middle of, “but Kelsey said…”

Ashley pauses, flicking her eyes away from Crystal, to Mikie.

Mikie backs away from the fridge, throwing his hands up. “I ain’t touchin’ this one, gals.”

Ashley leans in, all conspiratorial, whispering, “Kelsey said there was a blow-up with James and Jess last night. Jess called her all hysterical, crying and rambling on. She could hardly get a word in edgewise.”

“Did she say why?” Crystal asks, her eyes lighting up, sounding eager for more morsels.

Mikie frowns, thinking this isn’t the sort of conversation he ought to be listening in on. He hurries out before he hears anything more.


	20. james/pair of your choice, 96

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally [posted](https://saddestboner.tumblr.com/post/179767723551/jamespair-of-your-choice-96) in response to [this](https://saddestboner.tumblr.com/post/175485459661/100-prompts) meme. Anon prompted #96: "But that was my best pickup line!”

José sidled up to James’s locker and arranged artfully himself against his stall. James had a feeling he was up to no good and resolved to ignore him, but José isn’t easily ignored. 

Finally, James looked over at him. “What do you want?”

José grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “My saddle’s waiting. Come and—”

James shoved his catcher’s mitt in José’s face and pushed him away from his locker. “I hate you.”

José knocked James’s glove aside, still grinning. “But that was my best pickup line!”


	21. james/jose - "i wanna fuck you in your god's hands/when your praying bites the dust"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _James is kneeling in the pews when he hears the doors open behind him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted [here](https://saddestboner.tumblr.com/post/181013162734/jamesjose-i-wanna-fuck-you-in-your-gods).

James is kneeling in the pews when he hears the doors open behind him. He registers the sound of dress shoes—probably expensive—clipping on the tile, getting closer and closer.   
  
No one else is supposed to be here. The congregation doesn’t meet for hours.   
  
James bows his head, crosses himself, and gets up slowly to his feet. Turning, he find himself face to face with José. He thought…  
  
“What are you doing here?” he asks, tucking his hands in his flowing, pristine white robes.   
  
José tilts his head up at James and smiles, a lazy smile that stretches across his face almost in slow motion. “I missed you. Wanted to come for a visit,” he teases, reaching out toward James.  
  
James backs up a step. “We can’t do this here.”  
  
“You owe me an explanation,” José hisses, his eyes going dark and stormy. “For why you left. We had a—”  
  
“I didn’t have a choice,” James cuts him off, turning his back on José. He clenches his jaw and tries to rein his temper in, even though he knows José wants him to lash out.   
  
That’s why he came, isn’t it? To get under James’s skin? After all, they’d been partners. No one knew James better than José.  
  
“You had a choice, we all had choices,” José murmurs, his voice very close to James’s ear, his breath warm against his cheek.   
  
James shakes his head. “I got out of it for a reason, José. You should too.“ James turns to look José in the eye. José looks right back, not even flinching. “It’s dangerous. I’d hate to see you get hurt.“  
  
“That a threat?“ José asks, his tone  _almost_  teasing but not quite.   
  
James sighs. “It’s a…a worry.“  
  
José blinks at him, his lips thinning. “You had a vision.“  
  
James nods slowly. “I saw you dying.“  
  
“The future’s not set in stone, Jimmy Mac,“ José says, forcing a broad smile onto his face. He reaches out and claps James on the shoulder a little too hard. “We can change our destiny. You used to believe that.“  
  
“I thought I could change my destiny once,“ James mutters, shrugging José’s hand away. “And look what it got me.“  
  
José’s sharp smile softens at the edges and he squeezes James’s arm. “We’ll get them back someday. We’ll find them,“ he promises James, fiercely.  
  
“It’s too late,“ James says. “They’ve been gone too long.“  
  
“That’s partly why I’m here,“ José says. “I think I found a way.“  
  
“To…“ James trails off, staring at José, unwilling to let the little spark of hope in his chest flare into flames.   
  
How many false starts had they had already? There was no point getting his hopes up after all these years. Jess and the twins were gone. Nothing would bring them back.   
  
“I found a portal,“ José murmurs, leaning in, his voice dropping to a whisper as if he’s afraid someone might be lurking and listening in.   
  
“You found a portal?“ James echoes, disbelievingly. “I don’t believe it. I can’t. I would have heard something.“  
  
“No one else knows I’ve found it,“ José says, leaning back. The grin is back on his face. “Come with me, Jimmy. Let’s get your family back.“  
  
James wants so badly to go with him, to shrug off his robes and the vows he’s worn heavily like a crown since Jess and the boys…   
  
If what José is saying is true, they might not be dead. They could still be saved.  
  
James nods, his mind made up.  
  
“I’ll do it,“ he says, holding his hand out to José to mark their new partnership.  
  
José bypasses James’s outstretched hand, pulling him into a surprising hug.


	22. 54. “I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. That’s the problem.” James/Jose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“ **Chicago**?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Additional Notes/Warnings:** James's twins are mentioned.

James is playing pat-a-cake in the living room with the boys when his phone starts vibrating noisily on the coffee table. He figures it’s probably just a reporter calling to confirm his deal so he lets it go. The boys are having too much fun for him to want to stop, anyway. He’s decided to savor all these seemingly insignificant little moments because he won’t get to see a lot of them come spring. 

The phone keeps ringing though and, finally, James grabs it off the coffee table and glances at the screen.

 _José_?

“Hello?” James sits back down on the carpet and spreads his legs out so Kane and Christian and crawl over them. 

“ _Chicago_?” José says, dispensing with the pleasantries right off the bat. “You weren’t gonna say nothing?”

James winces. He wasn’t. “It came together pretty quick,” he lies.

“Liar. I see on a news alert they want you,” José says, having the audacity to sound offended. 

“Was I supposed to run my decision by you or something?” James quips, a little sharply. 

Christian and Kane seem to have caught onto his sour mood and Kane looks like he’s about two seconds away from tears. Sighing, James tucks the phone between his shoulder and ear and picks them both up cradling them in his arms as he rocks them against his chest. 

“I just thought...” José trails off.

“Yeah?” James prompts. 

“I thought we was gonna play together,” he says, sighing huffily. “Baltimore, Minnesota. Maybe in the West Coast somewhere.”

James closes his eyes and sighs. Yeah, José  _would_  think that, wouldn’t he? They’d never really talked about it but it  _had_ come up. Maybe he should have dismissed the idea more emphatically or something. 

“José,” James says, gentling his tone. “The boys are in Nashville. Baltimore and Maryland are too far away.”

José draws in a breath, sounding like he’d been slapped. “I hate you,” he spits out.

“I’m sorry,” James says. “It’s just... The split was hard enough. I don’t get to see them as much as I’d like. If I followed you to Baltimore or Minnesota, I’d  _never_  get to see them.”

José’s quiet for a few minutes, perhaps wanting James to start to squirm. Finally, he says, almost apologetically, “I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. That’s the problem.”

“I’m sorry,” James says again. “You... You know how I feel about you. But I can’t.”

“I guess not,” José mutters, sounding dispirited. Like James had reached deep inside and pulled out all his stuffing. 

“I should go,” James says. “The boys are getting fussy. It’s time for their afternoon feeding.”

“I guess I’ll see you around,” José says and, before James can say goodbye, he hangs up on him.

James lets the phone fall into his lap with a sigh. The boys lift their heads up at him, perceptive as always, with curious looks. 

“It’s fine, guys,” James says, forcing a smile on his face. “Who’s hungry?” He scoops them up in his arms and carries them into the kitchen to be fed.

James had learned a long time ago that you couldn’t always get what you wanted. He could have baseball and he could have the twins and, really, that was all he needed. But he couldn’t have Jess, and he couldn’t have José, and some day he’d learn to live with that.

**Author's Note:**

> The author of this piece intends no insult, slander, or copyright infringement, and is not profiting from this work. This story is a complete work of fiction and does not necessarily reflect on the nature of the individuals featured. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you found this story while Googling your name or the names of your friends, hit the back button now.


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